The revenue sharing arrangement is once again to blame, with the situation being complicated by some French laws. As it turns out, the law in France would require that unlocked iPhones be sold alongside locked versions. Since the phone would be able to be used with other carriers, that whole exclusivity agreement doesn't do much for Orange. As a result, the company seems to be hesitant to fork over the (no doubt hefty) revenue percentage that Apple wants. Makes sense.

There's also a risk that AT&T would get annoyed by the possibility of unlocked iPhones being available in the wild somewhere. As it stands now, it's unlikely that the two sides will reach a deal in enough time to launch the iPhone before Christmas. The suggestion in the article is that Apple may be considering passing up Orange (and thus France) entirely for now, but so far there's no official word from either side. We'll find out the truth when November comes and goes with launches in the UK and Germany, I guess.